Word is that former State Auditor and current Chittenden Senator Ed Flanagan will announce at a brunch tomorrow that he will be a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Flanagan would enter a Democratic field that has already begun to fill, with House Majority Leader Floyd Nease reportedly already fundraising and putting together the fundamentals of a statewide campaign.

In addition, there continues to be speculation about current State Auditor Tom Salmon‘s ambitions. Junior Salmon has been keeping a high political profile of late, going as far as to attempt to insert himself into the recent budget battle between the Governor and the Legislature. Salmon has contracted with the nascent consulting firm of Theseus Advisors, which is the collective shingle of Burlington-area political usual suspects Selene Hofer-Shall and Jake Perkinson. That strikes many as a lot of firepower early in the election cycle for an Auditor re-election campaign.

So it seems likely that there will be a primary for Lieutenant Governor as well. The question remains as to whether the winner would face incumbent Republican Brian Dubie, or whether the rumors are true and Dubie will opt not to run again, passing the Republican institutional blessing to Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon as his heir apparent.

Flanagan was, of course, the subject of an unflattering piece in Seven Days which lead with an extensive, generally anonymously-sourced indictment of his competence in office since his brain injury years back. While the latter part of the piece presented much on-the-record defense of Flanagan’s performance, it was clearly the intention of the article to raise the very doubts and concerns it could not meaningfully corroborate. It was not the usually dependable Ken Picard’s finest reporting hour.

Remember a ways back when I re-posted this dKos diary from Turkana which made the case that much of the real venom behind many of the right-wing attacks on Obama (as compared to, say, Clinton) was fueled by garden variety racism? It was a good conversation that evoked a range of responses – including this angry, hyperbolic, and completely dismissive reaction from Charity:

my dear left-wingers, you have yourselves to blame.

You know hatred, boy, do you ever.  You have hated for the past 8 years.  Some of you even forgot how not to hate and are still spewing hate on a daily basis toward anyone who dares disagree with you.

After Obama was elected, I read time after time on conservative blogs how we had to resist doing what the left did for the past 8 years.  The hate.  The screeching.  The inability to formulate coherent sentences.

Unfortunately, some of us can’t resist emulating what has become the standard in political thought.

So, if anyone on the left wonders why the level of discourse is so base, so visceral, compared to the past, it’s not because he’s black (with or without scare quotes), it’s because you lowered the bar.

(The party of “personal responsibility” heard from, yes I know.)

So imagine my surprise this week when I try checking out the right-wing sites she links to at She’s Right and right away find this gem entitled “Punk-Ass President” from Massachusetts blogger Hotspur at “New England Republican” (after the flip):

I can see him in baggy Jeans, with lipstick teardrops under both eyes, and his baseball cap on sideways.

Don’t ef with Streetdog B.  He’ll be President someday in a national flight from reality, but he’s still just a punk.

I’m sure he talks about Hillary and Ted Kennedy the same way. What were we thinking?

I would also note that this post came from Massachusetts, not Alabama. Yet another case-in-point that writing racism off as an exclusive problem of ignurnt sutherners is a dangerous canard.

For those who may have missed it, the Obama administration is in damage control mode after several significant Democrats have indicated they will be boycotting an upcoming GLBT-focused, $1000-a-person DNC fundraiser featuring Vice President Biden. The boycott (and rumored demonstration) is a result of the frustration felt by many gay activists who feel that Obama is breaking his campaign promises to them on a host of issues. That frustration turned to anger in the face of a recent brief from the Attorney General’s office supporting the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” – even going so far as to invoke incest (if not by name) to deliver its crude, plainly bigoted message. The timing of the fundraiser simply adds insult to injury, suggesting that Obama, AG Holder, and the DNC can denigrate the GLBT community but still expect to treat them as (as Kos put it) an ATM.

And now comes word that a prominent Vermonter, scheduled to be honored at the event, is joining the protest. From Newsweek’s “Gaggle” blog:

Gay rights activist David Mixner and HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse aren’t the only high profile names to register dismay over the Justice Department’s pro-DOMA legal brief by pulling out of a DNC fundraiser scheduled for next week. We’ve learned that Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, who shepherded the first marriage equality bill through the VT legislature and spent time stumping for Obama during the campaign’s fledgling days, also plans to boycott the event. Shumlin, who is not gay, had been scheduled to be one of the fundraiser’s honored guests but decided to drop out after last week’s DOJ memo

Some folks might recognize the name of the Human Rights Campaign Field Director, Marty Rouse. Rouse did a lot of consulting for Democratic candidates and caucuses in Vermont (including the Vermont Democratic Party proper) during the late 90s and into this decade. He worked closely with Shumlin during that period.

In Shumlin’s letter withrawing from the event, he writes:

By defending DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans, the Administration has chosen discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to be more courageous in defending. This action will only serve to sow the seeds for further hatred and division against the only minority group left in America that politicians can publicly discriminate against and see their approval ratings rise.

Some might be inclined to dismiss this move as grandstanding, but the realty is that Shumlin stands to build significant alliances and contacts at the event – particularly as an honoree – that he is taking a pass on by not attending (contacts that could be invaluable during a run for Governor). Of course, he’ll curry favor with others, but the point is, to simply write this move off as cynical would be… well, cynical. This is a big deal.

Shumlin’s complete letter is below the fold.

Dear Andy,

Further our recent telephone conversation, I was looking forward to seeing

you next week in DC for the DNC event with Vice President Joe Biden, but

after learning how the Administration and the Department of Justice is

choosing to defend DOMA, I am writing to let you know that I am canceling my

participation in the upcoming event.

As an early and strong supporter of Barack Obama I am shocked and

disappointed at the level of insensitivity that the Department of Justice

has shown towards gay and lesbian couples and their families.  By defending

DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful

stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans, the Administration has chosen

discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to

be more courageous in defending. This action will only serve to sow the

seeds for further hatred and division against the only minority group left

in America that politicians can publicly discriminate against and see their

approval ratings rise.  My disappointment in this has led me to the

regrettable decision not to be a participant in the DNC event.

I am proud Vermont made history in how we enacted marriage equality – not

through a court order but through legislative action.  The tides of history,

love and justice came together in Vermont and I look forward to witnessing

this movement swell across the nation as all of America’s citizens are

granted equal rights.  It is my hope that the Obama Administration will

actively support what we did in Vermont – grant marriage equality to all

under the law – nothing more and nothing less.

Andy, I appreciate your hard work on behalf of the DNC and I make this

decision with regret.

My Best,

Peter Shumlin

I know its been commented on below, but I wanted to mention it again with particular emphasis: Peter Welch voted against the war funding supplemental, which was another such demand from the Presidency without a timetable for withdrawal (possibly in face of this criticism, however, the administration is reaffirming its August 2010 global deadline for its mostly-withdrawal, after officials had been sounding increasingly soft on it…we’ll see. Cross your fingers.). Given that it was a popular Democratic president pushing for it this time, the pressure was reportedly intense, with Rahm Emanuel furiously bargaining and pressuring (of course, he was reportedly back to working with his favorite partners, the blue dogs and Republicans) and Nancy Pelosi herself whipping members to get behind the vote.

But Welch, despite rumors to the contrary, held firm, and we thank him for that. For my part, its nice to, once again, have my faith in him re-confirmed. We may not agree on everything every single time, but its good to know he continues to stand by his word to Vermonters.

Thanks also to folks like Robert Greenwald, Digby, and especially Jane Hamsher who really latched onto this and almost achieved an amazing political coup under the media radar.

As for the bill, it passed 226-202 – interesting enough, with virtually no Republican support. Republicans objected to $108 billion appropriated in loan guarantees as part of an agreement to help shore up the International Monetary Fund. It’s more base-fodder masquerading as fiscal responsibility, as the anti-everybody-but-America wing of the right sees the IMF as part of its dreaded new world order, even though the Republican caucus has had no problems with supporting it in the past (of course, a lot of us on the left aren’t thrilled with the IMF either – and that’s an understatement – but probably a story for another diary). It is interesting, though, that the sort of bill Republicans have bullied Democrats with, as being a with-the-troops-or-against-them vote has a different flavor without George Bush pushing for it. Call it political relativism, if you want to be diplomatic. The good news is that this GOP hypocrisy seems to be the emerging media narrative in the wake of this vote.

In the meantime, we’ve clearly got a long way to go as a nation on the “better” part of this “more and better Democrats” plan.

But, as Hamsher said in the linked diary above:

Just remember:

They had to hold it open 10 extra minutes and after the Dems hit 218 and there were five GOP votes that scurried in under the wire.

We made the President of the United States himself whip to get the votes.

We tried to make the Dems fight like this when Bush was in office to stop funding the war, but they wouldn’t–so we did it ourselves.

I’m very proud to have worked with every single one of you. This was going to be a rout. They had to work for it.

Let’s do it again.

So say we all, eh?

Me from June 8th:

The following rhetoric from a campaign email (dated the Sunday before the override session) is typical:

As I criss-crossed the state people voiced their concern about the budget stand-off between the Governor and legislature.  Vermonters know that these are challenging times for the state and that some combination of spending cuts and tax increases will be required to balance the state budget.

Instead of gamesmanship, Vermonters want real leadership in Montpelier.   They want the Governor and legislative leaders to have an honest dialogue and work out their differences.  The budget is not a political football to pass back and forth – we are talking about the lives of ordinary Vermonters and the future of our state.

Although the bulk of the email focuses on Governor Douglas, this is another case where Markowitz has been positioning herself to run against the Governor and the legislature (trying to grab the grownup-among-the-children meme… In light of current events (specifically the real leadership that has been shown by legislative Democrats) this might seem to come off as a bit out-of-touch (or worse) to primary voters, who are unaccustomed to feeling so proud of – and empowered by – their state Representatives and Senators…

Contrast this with the lead paragraph of this week’s fundraising letter from Markowitz, dated June 11th (emphasis added):

Governor Douglas made history twice this spring – first when he vetoed the same sex marriage bill, and again when he vetoed the state’s budget for the first time in our history. I am certain that this isn’t the kind of history-making Vermonters are looking for in a governor. We need a governor who will work with the legislature to get things done.

There ya go.

All the candidates should keep their eyes on GMD. We’ll work all your kinks out between now and primary day, so whichever one of you goes on to face Big Jimbo will be in full, fighting trim.

[UPDATE: The House today passed the war supplemental without timetables for troop withdrawal 226-202. Of the yes votes, 221 were Democrats. Of the no votes, 32 were Democrats, including Vermont Rep. Peter Welch. Welch was reported to be leaning toward voting yes, despite his promise during the Bush Administration that he would not vote for war funding without withdrawal timetables. Some activists are crediting the netroots with energizing enough constituents to gather up the 32 votes against, including some representatives who were wavering or known to be yes votes. Jane Hamsher at firedoglake cited GMD and Odum for keeping the pressure on Peter to do the right thing and keep his promise. –Nanuq]

Robert Greenwald is one of the most prominent and influential voices in the new media. Apart from his groundbreaking web work as founder of Brave New Films, he has produced and directed such films as “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” (2006), “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” (2005), and “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” (2004), to name a few. As his website bio says, he has “produced and/or directed more than 55 television movies, miniseries and feature films. Greenwald’s films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.”

And he has a message for Green Mountain Daily Readers, as well as Rep. Peter Welch:

According to Jane Hamsher at firedoglake (who has taken point on this issue), a mere 4 votes are necessary to block the latest request for supplemental Iraq (yes, and Afghanistan) War funding. Welch and others pledged not to vote on such further appropriations without the inclusion of a timetable for withdrawal, and word on the Hill is that Welch may be among those signatories who may reverse themselves on the issue under pressure from the new, Democratic administration.

It’s past time for the progressive wing of the party to stand up and expect the same deference being shown by the Obama administration to the congressional blue dogs. Call Welch and let him know you look forward to him sticking to his pledge to Vermonters at (888) 605-7270 (toll free in Vermont),(802) 652-2450, and/or (202) 225-4115 (here’s the fdl whip tool again).

UPDATE: Hamsher reports, based on feedback from Paul Martin of Peace Action who is lobbying on this, that Welch is leaning in the direction of abandoning his position and supporting the war funding supplemental without a timetable for withdrawal. A lot of us stuck up for him when he was getting beat up on his handling of this stuff, so I can say with certainty that he’s gonna catch hell if he does flip. I haven’t been able to get anything definitive from his office myself, so I’ll keep trying. Folks should definitely be calling (numbers below). Don’t let us down, Peter.

Peter Welch is getting a lot of positive attention on health care reform, but an all-too familiar issue may be on the horizon for the coming week

On health care, while battle lines are being drawn over the so-called “public option” in any reform legislation, Welch is already aggressively moving to introduce legislation to guarantee its inclusion. In a nutshell, reform legislation will present taxpayers with a menu of mostly commercial insurer options to buy into, which will be subsidized for low income earners. A “public option” would be a government payer (a la medicare or medicaid) as one of the menu choices. Obviously this makes subsidizing easier on the one hand, but also allows the feds more control over the types of coverage. Private insurers are afraid any public option would be too appealing and affordable and draw away business – and both opponents and proponents of a single payer system see this as a way to potentially facilitate a transition to such a model. Welch put himself in front of the argument two days ago (along with Reps. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa)) by introducing H.R. 2668, the Choice in Health Options Insures Care for Everyone (CHOICE) Act, which doesn’t wait for a megabill and would mandate a public option be included and paid for by premiums.

So big good on Peter on the one hand, yes?

…but behind door two…

Fast approaching (next Thursday, probably) is a vote on yet another supplemental to Iraq War funding. Welch is among those who vowed not to approve any more such funds unless they included a timetable for withdrawal – and he has held to that vow in the past. But there’s a new Sheriff in town in the form of a Democratic President, and some Representatives who made such vows are showing signs of wavering – and, according to Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake, one of them is Mr. Welch:

I get emails:

Some folks in a position to have an informed opinion think that Peter Welch is going to go with Barney Frank and vote in favor of the war supplemental.

I thought Vermont had a peace movement.

Comes from a friend who’s been up on the Hill lobbying.

I guess some people think this one is going to fall down the memory hole.  Don’t think so.

While Representatives such as Frank and Jackson-Lee have indicated they will weenie out on this, we trust that Rep. Welch will join fellow progressives like Baldwin, Conyers and Woolsey and stick to his guns (so to speak). You can encourage him with a phone call at (202) 225-4115 or (202) 225-4115, or use the Whip tool at fdl here. Word is that the pressure is turned up to 11 on this bill (which includes the controversial IMF bailout language), with Rahm Emanuel working legislators relentlessly and Nancy Pelosi herself playing whip, so counter pressure is definitely called for. According to Hamsher, “Members are being bribed, bullied and cajoled into abandoning their commitment to vote against any war funding that doesn’t include a time table to bring the troops home.”

We’ll keep you informed on both these issues as things develop.

Here’s a jobs program from a different culture for you. Perhaps it can be retrofitted for Vermont.

Meaningless background: When I was about thirteen, my family moved into a house we’d built a couple miles out of town, which technically made us citizens of Paint Lick, Kentucky. Much as its fun to drop that name as my hometown to yankees, my hometown was really Berea (which I wouldn’t exactly call a groovy place, but it did have a lot of uniquely positive and negative qualities, all of which were tied up around Berea College, a Christian college founded way back when as an abolitionist school servicing poor appalachian mountain youth).

Anyway. History lesson over, as it really has nothing to do with the one-liner I wanted to share. I went to high school about 12 miles away, and there were only a few other Bereans in my 9th grade citizenship class. One was a guy named Charles – a rather intimidatingly large fellow (tall, broad shouldered, round), real working class Kentucky stock with the dry wit and innate sense of comic timing typical to a lot of folks like him back home.

One day, the teacher posed a question to the class: “What’s somebody supposed to do if they lose their job and they have no education, no real professional skills, no money, no family resources to fall back on, and no prospects?”

Charles, with that comic timing gene fully engaged, took a breath during the all-too-typical silence in the class and responded into the vacuum; “in Berea, he opens up a church.”

I dunno. Maybe you had to be there, or maybe you have to be a southerner, but I swear to god I’m still laughing at that.

Man, lots of nastiness flying around yesterday. Jim Douglas doing his pouty pushback after quietly signing the budget supplemental, accusing the legislature of “the sloppiest lawmaking I can recall” (what does that even mean, exactly? – certainly not caucus-control, that’s for sure, although I’m sure he wishes they were still so sloppy at that). Meanwhile, another Democratic lawmaker has accused Douglas of lying, and this one on the record – Senator Shumlin. From VTBuzz:

(Douglas) charged that legislative leaders walked away from the negotiating table – three times….

…”Nobody ever walked away,” Shumlin said. “I don’t know what motivates the governor at this time to say something that is untrue.”

The second time in recent weeks this has happened. So weird that its just treated as background noise by the media. In any other state, it’d be headline news. Bizarre. And why isn’t Douglas jumping up to defend his honor, or make a political stink about it (could it be he doesn’t want any more attention paid to the charges)?

Over on the third dimension, after the legislative Dems owned up to majorly screwing up on the wording of the language demanding Douglas seek their approval for large layoffs (it doesn’t take effect until July, so Douglas is just making sure the layoffs get under the deadline) Rep. Zuckerman (who, more than any other Prog, rarely misses an opportunity to poke Dems, but often tosses in a token compliment to offset the attacks, I guess) wants to be absolutely sure that organized labor understands that the Dems really are their enemies:

“Had this been a bigger priority for the whole session, then I don’t think these kinds of mistakes would have happened,” Zuckerman said. “All session long, it certainly appeared as though leadership in the House and maybe Senate was not really standing up for our state workforce and the services they provide.”

Okay. Whatever. Maybe everybody should acquaint themselves the bill before they vote on it, no? If the Dem leadership is so bad, why wouldn’t you read what they spoonfeed you?

On the other hand, maybe this all adds up to that sloppiness we were hearing about. Perhaps Douglas should be celebrating it, rather than criticizing it.

Lets see… Rs grousing at Ds, Ds grousing at Rs, Ps grousing at Ds. What about Ds grousing at Ps? Ah, well, Burlington never lets us down. Per Shay:

The city’s Dems are positioning themselves to block Larry Kupferman’s reappointment as head of the city’s Community and Economic Development Office. Ditto (Progressive Mayor Bob) Kiss’ efforts to replace Parks & Recreation Director Wayne Gross.

Look, I’m not gonna wade into the vendetta politics that characterize Burlington right now (maybe later), except to say that, fine, I understand that the Dems historically feel ganged up on and bullied by Ps and Rs, fairly or unfairly. All I’m gonna say is you might wanna pick your battles more discriminatingly rather than pick all of them, nomesayin?

But on the lighter side of yesterday, here are the greatest hits from the Montpelier police log!

A North Street resident called, asking for help catching her indoor cat that got out.

An area organization reported they find musicians on State Street irritating.

Police received a report of a female who is on the run again.

Police received a report that a male jumped on traffic signal and it fell over.

A concerned citizen reported the travel lanes through construction zone on River Street are confusing.

A Loomis Street resident called, worried neighbor’s music will cause seizure.

Ah, Vermont living…

I used to look for this stuff all the time, but I’ve slacked in recent months. Here is some interesting website domain registration info. Note the following doesn’t constitute a campaign announcement, as it may be about keeping options open – but at the very least, it shows how seriously such options may be being taken:

Registrant:

Peter Shumlin

345 Hickory Ridge Rd.

Putney, Vermont 05346

United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)

Domain Name: SHUMLINFORGOVERNOR.COM

Created on: 27-Feb-09

Expires on: 27-Feb-11

Last Updated on: 27-Feb-09

This is interesting too:

Domain Name: briandubie.com

Created on ………….Tue Mar 15 23:59:59 2005

Expires on ………….Fri Mar 26 23:59:59 2010

Record last updated on .Thu Feb 26 05:13:31 2009,

Note it was renewed in February – but only for a year, and will expire again early in the election year. Hmmm.

On an unrelated note: I was asked to mention that there’s a fundraiser for Tom Salmon Thursday, June 11, from 5:30-7:00 at the St. John’s Club in Burlington (9 Central Ave.) – questions can go to (802) 233-1207. Suggested contributions start at $25, but there is no minimum.